The tenant trashed the place and moved out without taking any of his stuff. His deposit does not cover any of the damages. How to recover the money?

Here are sequence of events,

1. Tenant was late on rent payments.

2. Filed for eviction.

3. Court ordered tenant to pay and vacate in a month.

4. Tenant paid overdue rent and stayed little over the date court allowed.

5. I objected his overstay and Tenant left the place leaving all furniture behind.

6. The place was trashed. There was lot of junk on the floor. The apartment was dirty. Kitchen and bathroom was not clean in months. It cost me well over $400 to clean. Disposing of old and rotten furniture cost me more than $300. The appliances were damaged. The total cost of repairs is well over $4000 and deposit is only $500.

Quite probably you won't get a cent. That's why it's inportant to screen carefully, try to only get tenants that have long term jobs that won't likely get cut and of course as much deposit as possible.

I've heard there are some companies that guarantee at least part of lost rent and damages.

How good was the application filled out? Does it list a series of emergency contacts? Start calling these folks letting them know that little Johnny or Little Jannie owes you money.

If you selected someone who isn't collectable - then the way you start collecting cash is look at the screening process.

Alex here in GA how you collect money judgment is by doing every thing by the book. I can tell you didn't just by your post here.

You first collect by doing the lease right. Did you do a move in inspection? Did you and the tenant note the condition of the home on a page of the lease? Did you have the tenant sign a comprehensive list of what would be charged for dirty toilets, carpet, appliances yada yada yada???

Next is the hard part Alex-- have you read title 44-7 the GA LL tenant laws?

How did you get the place back? did he leave a key or did you just walk in? and take it back? (AKA self help eviction) The place was trashed-- did you document all the damages and compare them to the move in sheet for billing?

HOW DO YOU RECOVER MONEY!!!!! by learning how to place a tenant in your place in the first place. Know more about the LL/tenant law then any tenant.

I see no mention of a bill sent outlining the damages and if you did send one was it during the title 44 time frame?

Alex you have posted here before--- my advise and take it or leave it-- you need more education.

It's not throw a sign in the yard- put someone in the property and hope for the best. Your a chump and easy target for professional Tenants they can smell the blood in the water and will wear you out.

Thank you myob[GA] for your honest opinion.

The tenant left the place and asked me to send him a bill. I have documented all damages with pictures and associated cost. I doubt that he will pay me what he owes.

I have one month to send him all the settlements. He moved out 2 weeks ago.

look at title 44-- you must do it in 3 days and send within 5. If you don't have the move in inspection what do you bill damages against? the OL he said she said?

And yes you still need to send the settlement showing the distribution of the deposit.

You are in GA and can collect but ya gotta do it right. We just got an additional, 4100.00 judgment on top of 2500.00 the previous tenant had paid from the court in Dallas GA.

Alex, it's really hard to respond if you won't answer any of the questions other posters have asked you.

Alex,

This is LLing 101. Some leave owing money and your job is to get it.

Judging by your comments I highly suggest you talk to and hire an atty in the morning.

You MUST send a DEPOSIT SETTLEMENT within the deadline or risk losing your rights.

Dirty is easy to fix. What pushed the total to $4000 in repairs?

Also, drop tje emotional attachment. He did not do this to you purposely, he’s jist a slob. Nad turnovers are an everyday part of LLing.

Don’t sweat it. Clean it and re-rent quickly.

Next, you just paid for real life education. Promise yourself NOW that you will ALWAYS do a 2 Minute In Home Visit prior to final approval.

AND that you will invest some time and money in training to avoid this loss in the future. MrLL BootCamp, Comvention, local RE assoc...

(My local LL assoc is only $75 per year for awesome local training throughout the year AND friendships with wealthy, successful LLs.

Brad20k,

Greta advice!

Sure wish we had a local LL association. I tried a little to get one started. Maybe I should try again.